Adesanya throttles champ Whittaker in UFC 243 rout

Interim champion Israel Adesanya dethroned UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker with a stunning knockout in the second round of their 185-pound unification bout that headlined UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia.

New Zealand-based, Nigerian-born Adesanya, 30, landed a right hook that floored the New Zealand-born Whittaker, 28, in the first round’s final seconds and ended the fight in the second of the five-round contest with a left hook.

■ Motor sports: At Dover, Del., Cole Custer started from the pole and led 31 laps to win the Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway for his seventh NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season and first since August. Eight drivers, including Custer and Bishop Gorman product Noah Gragson, advanced to the next round of the playoffs.

■ Boxing: At New York, Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) regained one of his old middleweight titles, edging Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs) in a unanimous decision to take the IBF belt. Golovkin, 37, won 115-112 on two cards and 114-113 on the other.

■ Volleyball: At Fresno, Calif., Mariena Hayden had 26 kills and 17 digs to lead UNLV (6-9, 2-2 Mountain West) to a 3-2 victory over Fresno State (10-6, 3-1). The Rebels won by scores of 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11, halting the Bulldogs’ five-match win streak.

■ Horse racing: At Arcadia, Calif., Omaha Beach rallied to beat 1-5 favorite Shancelot by a head in the $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, earning a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint next month at Santa Anita Park.

■ Tennis: At Tulsa, Okla., all five of UNLV’s singles entrants lost in straight sets in the prequalifying round of the St. Francis ITA All-American Championships.

From staff and wire reports